Years ago, when Henry Kissinger was one of the most admired men in America, my friend Ronnie mistakenly dove into the shallow end of a hotel pool late one night and scraped his scalp pretty badly. Holding his hand over it, he staggered into that little room where they keep the ice machine. The man who turned to see who had walked in was Henry Kissinger.
“Mr. Kissinger,” exclaimed Ronnie, “you’re one of three people I’ve always dreamed of asking for advice.”
“No,” said Kissinger.
Ronnie said, “I understand,” and turned to walk out of the room.
“My advice is no, young man.” Ronnie turned back to face him. “Always let your first answer be no. When you say yes, you no longer have the ability to say no. But when your answer is no, you retain the power to say yes.”
Ronnie took the advice to heart. He tells me it has made him quite a lot of money over the years.
And now you, too, know Henry’s secret.
I’ll see you next week.